May Sarton: Selected Letters, 1955-1995 (Hardcover)

by May Sarton (Author), William Drake (Author), Susan Sherman (Editor), Warren Keith Wright (Foreword) "-and here I sit ten minutes silent, hardly knowing how to begin..." (more)
Key Phrases: music box bird, fur person, lecture trip, May Sarton, George Sarton, New Hampshire (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
"[W]ho do I write for? Certainly not only for women... I guess I write for sensitive human beings wherever they are, however young or old, and of whatever sex. But I do not write for academic critics, that's sure. Nor do they like what I write. It is a mutual lack of interest." Her regret over the lateness of critical acclaim for her work is among the revelations about the prolific (with more than 50 books to her credit) and beloved Sarton, poet, novelist and diarist. In a note of appreciation, her friend William Drake says Sarton the letter writer was always swift, candid, blustery, boisterous and even defensive, but, he sums up, "the most difficult people can be the most worth knowing and treasuring." Sherman (who also edited May Sarton: Selected Letters, 1916-1954) presents 200 of the thousands of letters Sarton wrote in the latter part of her life to a wide range of friends, relatives and readers. These letters are best read in conjunction with each of Sarton's published works as they were written and released; Sherman hopes fans and newcomers alike will be left with a clearly delineated self-portrait of the writer and the woman: while writing, both her own and others', is the primary focus of Sarton's correspondence, readers also witness her difficulty in accepting criticism, as well as her generosity and humanity toward friends, strangers and the world at large. Nothing, including her own inner workings, escapes Sarton's scrutiny and consideration. Entertaining, insightful and not the least bit sentimental, Sarton's letters provide a complex yet clear composite of a singularly bright mind. 16 pages of photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Like Henry James, Sarton was a prolific writer whose passion for words and relationships emerged in the scores of letters she wrote to her friends, family, and critics. As she did for the first volume of Sarton's selected letters, editor Sherman (May Sarton: Selected Letters, 1916-1954) performs the loving, and herculean, task of sorting through Sarton's voluminous correspondence. In the over 200 letters contained here, Sarton matures into her writing as she corresponds with friends about her most critically acclaimed novel, Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing. In her letters to an array of correspondents including Julian Huxley, Anne Sexton, and Louise Bogan, Sarton discusses topics as wide-ranging as civil rights, Vietnam, and the theory of poetry. Her letters reveal her remarkable self-awareness and lucid insights, even after her stroke in 1986. Sherman annotates each letter, and an appendix includes 13 unpublished poems and the text of letters in French. Together with the first volume of letters, this collection provides a splendid biographical portrait of one of our most neglected artists. Highly recommended for libraries that own the earlier volume; otherwise, recommended for large libraries. (Photographs not seen.) Henry L. Carrigan Jr., Lancaster, PA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 447 pages
• Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co.; 1st edition (May 20, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393051110
• ISBN-13: 978-0393051117
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: No customer reviews yet. Be the first.
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #900,078 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #25 in

  Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( S ) > Sarton, May